Im/Material: Collections in Context

Collections in Context
Chaired by Sarah Mahurter

1. Cataloguing the Camberwell I.L.E.A. Collection
Jacqueline Winston-Silk

Donated to Camberwell College of Arts in 1989, the historic Inner London Education Authority (I.L.E.A.) collection received relatively little use and critical attention in the years since its acquisition. Seeking now to re-examine the potential of the objects within teaching and learning, and to address responsibilities towards the care and access of material, Camberwell embarked on a pilot cataloguing project. This presentation will reflect upon the objectives, methodology and discoveries of the 4 month development project undertaken in 2015. The work was generously supported by the Higher Education Innovation Fund.

2. From the PARC Archive: Camerawork (c. 1972 - 1999) and the John Wall Archive of the Directory of British Photographic Collections, 1972
Robin Christian

The Camerawork collections (c.1972-1999) tell a fascinating and largely untold story of community-led photography in England during the 70s, 80s and 90s. The collections’ unique contents cover setting up the Half Moon Photography Workshop, a community-based photography workshop in East London, through to Camerawork’s extensive publishing and touring exhibition programme.
 
The Rev. Dr. John Wall was a leading member of a Royal Photographic Society group, which proposed the making of a National Photographic Archive. In 1972, the group recommended the compilation of a National Photographic Record; John Wall became Honorary Editor. The Directory of British Photographic Collections was published by the RPS in 1972. PARC acquired the John Wall archive when researcher Bob Pullen visited Wall, in the early stages of making a web-based Directory of Photographic Collections in the UK. The first iteration for the John Wall project was a joint presentation between Val Williams and Robin Christian at the Archives 2.0 Conference at the National Media Museum in Bradford, 2014.

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Im/Material: Encounters within the Creative Arts Archive
13 - 14 May 2016, Chelsea College of Arts
University of the Arts London

This two-day conference brought together UK and international archivists, artists, curators and academics to consider the role of the archive in the preservation, interpretation and creation of culture. The event offered an exciting programme of talks, discussions, collaborative student exhibitions and other immersive events which foreground archives and special collections within the creative arts.

Further information about the UAL’s archives and special collections, including an online catalogue, can be found at: